Dodger

When I returned from the shower on Tuesday morning Daniel was half-dressed and in a panic. “Can I borrow a T-shirt from you? Mom hasn’t done my washing.” I suspected that it was more a case of him not putting his clothes in the washing basket, which he hardly ever did, but I didn’t mind. I told him to take his pick as he searched for a lost piece of homework, which had apparently gone missing from his desk. It was something that happened to him quite a lot, but unlike in the early days

Yeah, it's clear that Robbie has moved on a little then, and maybe some of those scars are healing. Is it Bieber or Trudeau who you are referring to? Although I suspect that both are capable of throwing a few toys from their prams if they don't get their own way. Thanks for the additional review droughtquake.

Thank you wenmale for another interesting review. Popular opinion seems to be that it's time for Robbie to man up and face the music. You point to his age and this is an important factor to keep in mind. I don't know if there are any figures but I don't think that even nowadays there are that many 15 year-old-boys out there who would be comfortable with outing themselves.

You're way too smart to be doing these reviews Tim, but I love them. You have of course hit the nail on the head and forced me into making a few tweaks to the next chapter to make it a little less predictable.

I agree that Daniel is the biggest obstacle standing in Robbie's path toward coming out. How his cousin will take this news remains to be seen, but I doubt if even the laid-back Daniel will be happy with it. Things will never be the same, that's for sure, but a lot will depend on how Daniel finds out.

Robbie is being held back, mainly by concerns over how his new family will react. Daniel, in particular, is a big worry because of his friendship with Nathan, who has told Robbie repeatedly that if his family finds out then they would find it difficult to spend any time alone. I think that Robbie now is ready to come out, but after finally getting his wicked way with his partner, he doesn't want to lose out on any future fun-time. I agree that Canada is not the worst country to be gay, although the story is set in 2010, a few years prior to Trudeau's government. Also, the small middle-class, conservative town where he lives is a far cry from the openly gay-friendly Toronto or even London. Similar to a lot of small towns in the states, there is still an underlying resentment in many of these places toward the liberal invasion and for gay teens, 'coming out' can still be a daunting prospect.

I couldn’t remember Alex ever talking to me before in homeroom. He wouldn’t normally waste his breath on anyone outside of his inner circle, but on Monday morning he made an exception. He called me a ‘fucking asshole’ on the way into class. I didn’t reply, knowing that later he would come looking for me. He wasn’t the type to take no for an answer and could be quite persuasive, even when he wasn’t using his fists. However, my mind was made up, and there was no way that I was going back to that h

Thank you for your review Butcher. Yes it seems as if Robbie will have his work cut out during the next few days and weeks if he is to keep everyone at bay and remain in the closet.

Thank you for your review nighthawke. I must have missed this one at the time, but I have made a promise to myself to reply to every review so it's better late than never, I suppose. I doubt if many boys in their position would have had the patience to play poker first that night, even if it was strip poker. I guess both boys had reason to believe that it was going to be over very quickly and in their favour. Robbie should have done his homework before believing Nathan when he said that he couldn't play.

Thank you for your review and sorry that it has taken so long to reply. I appreciate your interest in this story and reviews are always noted and I try to reply to each one. Let's hope that the boys are able to stay together as they certainly are well-matched. I hope that the story is able to live up to your expectations.

Thank you for your kind review. This was a bit of a steamy chapter following a fairly long build-up. I hope their relationship is able to grow in the way that you would like it to.

Thanks, Butcher, I appreciate your reviews. I agree that Robbie did well to keep Alex at bay for a while, but needs to be firm and avoid Alex's house on Friday. Rory would be a much better option for him.

Agreed, Alex is a user and pretty good at it too. Robbie has allowed him to take advantage of him in the past, thanks to some poor decision making of his own. We will see if he has been able to learn from those mistakes and send Alex packing or not.

Thank you for your review. You make some good points and you're almost certainly right about Daniel. When he finds out, he is going to be in a difficult position and will probably feel betrayed by both Robbie and Nathan. Daniel will be crucial for Robbie's success or failure.

Thanks for your review Parker. Always appreciated. Yeah, that was probably a good move by Robbie to distance himself from Alex, although it would have been easier for him to do this over the phone than to his face, and Alex is not one to give up easily.

You won't have to wait for long, the next chapter will be posted today. Thank you for your review.

I think that Robbie would be doing himself a big favour by coming out to Daniel before he finds out for himself.

Sunday was overcast and a little cooler than the last couple of days. I welcomed the drop in temperature and even a few clouds, which meant that I could leave my sunglasses behind, as I went outside to help tackle an overgrown garden. My contribution wasn’t voluntary, but I didn’t complain either after being pressganged by Don and assigned to help Daniel cut the grass. Although I no longer felt guilty for accepting their hard-earned cash in a healthy allowance each week, I was still able to unde

Thank you, Butcher. Rory is certainly a front runner for boy x and Robbie seems to be convinced that he's gay. You're quite right about Robbie digging a hole for himself, and unfortunately for him, this is something that he excels at.

Thank you for your review Butcher, and for joining the story. I hope that it lives up to your expectations and that you are able to find time to voice your opinions on any of the characters or anything in the story that you feel strongly about. As you probably know, reviews are always noted and can often influence and shape future chapters.

Thank you for your review and loyal support. The popular opinion seems to be that Robbie made a mistake by lying to Rory, who is often undervalued by those around him, especially Robbie, who could have and should have asked Rory if it was okay, before using him as cover for his romantic night with Nathan. Nicola has been a thorn in Robbie's side from day one, but this was the first time that he has actually lashed out at her, although all he did was to push her off her stool, she may think twice before hitting him in the future. She's a year older than Robbie, but he is physically stronger than her and has a short temper. She may want to keep her attacks strictly verbal from now on, although lately, she seems to have lost some of her interest in her annoying her adopted brother.

Thank you, Parker. I agree with your comments on Rory. He's a good guy and deserves better treatment from Robbie, who may need the support of a good friend like Rory when things aren't so rosy.

Robbie probably made it worse by not leaving it alone. I'm not an expert on this kind of injury, but a friend of mine had a similar experience to this a few years back and it affected her quite badly and she had to see her doctor in the end. I have no idea if she was honest to her doc about the cause, or what, if anything he was able to do to help, but it soon got better and she has refused to discuss it since.

Poor Rory is often overlooked or taken for granted by those the people around him, and none more so than Robbie. Robbie should probably have come out to Rory ages ago. Rory, gay or straight, would not have told anyone else and it would have been better than trying to guess his sexuality.

Nice work as usual Dark. I love this feature and four very talented authors